photo by: AP Photo/Mitch Alcala

Kansas center Hunter Dickinson (1) shoots over Oklahoma State center Brandon Garrison (23) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024 in Stillwater, Okla.

As long as he’s been a fixture on the national college landscape, fourth-year center Hunter Dickinson does have another season of collegiate eligibility remaining, and in a podcast appearance Friday he suggested he would consider returning to Kansas.

“The extra year is there for a reason,” he said, in a conversation with basketball analyst Jeff Goodman and North Carolina forward Armando Bacot on The Field of 68 YouTube channel, “and so there’s definitely — the door is open for it.”

Dickinson started as a freshman at Michigan in 2020, and he has an extra year of eligibility beyond the typical four as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He joined KU as one of the highest-profile transfers ever in May and has delivered on those high expectations thus far, averaging a double-double and putting himself in consideration for an All-American nod.

He said that team success for the Jayhawks will play a significant role in his decision following the year.

“Obviously if we win it all, there’s not many more times when you get to leave on the highest of highs,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson initially tried to enter the NBA Draft back in 2021 after averaging 14.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in his freshman season, a campaign that earned him freshman of the year honors from the Big Ten Conference, but opted to return to school because he wanted to mold himself into a first-round pick.

He didn’t go to the pros after either of the following two seasons but has continued to excel at the collegiate level.

“College is fun. I’ve had a ton of fun in college. That’s one of the main reasons why I’ve stayed,” he said on the podcast, adding that he’d relish the chance to spend another season learning from Bill Self and playing at Allen Fieldhouse.

One thing holding his game back from a professional perspective is a lack of athleticism on defense in particular, in the eyes of draft analysts. After the Champions Classic, at which Dickinson scored 27 points and grabbed 21 rebounds against Kentucky, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie classified him as a likely two-way contract candidate (meaning a player who splits time between the NBA and G League) and wrote that “Dickinson certainly deserves his flowers for doing what he was supposed to do against that (Kentucky) frontcourt, and he’ll get an opportunity in the NBA because of his pedigree and production. But he has obvious limitations with his lateral movement and agility on defense.”

Dickinson, for his part, believes he has the requisite knowledge and experience to make it in the pros if he leaves after the season.

“I also do feel like staying these four years has gotten me really ready, so if I were to leave, I feel like I’d be ready enough now at this stage in my career,” he said.

Dickinson stressed that he’ll make a call after the season based on how he’s “feeling in the moment.” For now, he said, “I’m glad I don’t have to make the decision yet and so I’m just trying to have fun (these) last couple months.”

One intriguing factor from a personnel perspective next year will be the arrival of five-star 6-foot-9 center Flory Bidunga, the KU signee and consensus top player at his position in the country, whom Self has called “as good a prospect that we’ve had inside in quite some time.” With KJ Adams and potentially Dickinson slated to return, that could create a bit of a frontcourt logjam.